The Back Pocket CMO

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head coach for the Bleckley County High School Golf Team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Back Pocket Branding?

We needed ongoing help with promotional design (t-shirts, posters, etc.), social media strategy and graphic design, and website design.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Back Pocket Branding (Emily) was local and knew the community. She completely remade the golf team's image and improved communication on the team.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The projects rotate on an ongoing basis. First, we worked on rebranding the Golf Team. After the rebranding was completed, we worked on developing yearly themes that are reflected on team clothing and through our social media profiles on Instagram and Facebook.

She developed a solid social media marketing strategy for us, so we could stay top of mind in the community. Presently, Emily is designing and executing our State Golf websites to distribute information to qualifying teams. She is on contract for assisting our team as needed for social media and website needs

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I worked directly with Emily, the owner and designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We gain 10-15 followers on our social media accounts per month. We started with 10 followers and now have over 141 followers with continued growth. Facebook reaches over 2000 page likes per post. Our program is one of the most recognized in the county.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We talked weekly about program needs and how she was meeting them. Communication was open and easily managed.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Emily is so very knowledgeable about many topics. She is a creative thinker and can quickly determine what needs to be done to ensure the quality of the solution.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

There were issues with our vendors not being able to understand the files that were sent to me. Once it was brought to Emily's attention, she fixed the problem, and we were good to go. This was early in our work together, so it hasn't been an issue since. I'm sure it was more of a problem with our vendor than her files.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a pastor and leader at both a Lutheran church and school.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Back Pocket Branding?

We needed someone who could help us increase our online presence and connect with the members of our church.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Back Pocket Branding designed our logo. We started the project by giving them some basic ideas and things that we wanted to incorporate into our logo, and they came back to us with about half a dozen different design options. After that, we narrowed them down to the ones that we liked the best. They did all the graphic design work for the final logo and have since incorporated it into shirt designs and other branding materials.

After that, they set up our YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, which provided us with other platforms to share our content. They also led a $500,000 paid advertising campaign for our new school on Facebook, as well as a smaller ad campaign on Google to test the waters.

Back Pocket Branding also built an app for our members and redeveloped our website. We used to have separate websites for our school and church, but they combined those two together into a single site, redeveloped it from top to bottom, and found us a new hosting company. They set up a live streaming feature on the site so people can easily attend our services and bible studies online.

We still work together to revise things as needed.

What is the team composition?

I work with Emily (Owner).

How did you come to work with Back Pocket Branding?

Back Pocket Branding was referred to us by an acquaintance.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve paid them around $1,500 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The biggest impact of Back Pocket Branding’s work is that we’ve been able to reach all of our members with our church services and bible studies during a time when they haven’t been able to come to church regularly due to the pandemic.

We’ve also gotten new members through the site and as a result of their marketing work. Additionally, we’ve just recently opened our school, and it was through their work that we were able to gather the first group of students for the opening.

How did Back Pocket Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

Back Pocket Branding has performed really well in terms of project management. They’re very flexible and easy to work with — they’ve quickly integrated into our team and it really feels like they’re one with us in accomplishing our goals. 

We primarily communicate through email, text messages, and Zoom meetings. We also meet in person regularly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciate how Back Pocket Branding always has our best interest at heart. They’re always focusing on accomplishing what we need, which is communicating effectively with our members and getting the word out about our new school.

The cost to benefit ratio of their services is also very good — they definitely provide great value for our money.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything Back Pocket Branding could improve — in fact, I’ve already recommended them to other churches. If ever there’s anything that I didn’t like, they were really quick to adjust and accommodate my concerns.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to be open and honest about what your needs are.